Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
World Behind This Chapter
Explore the people, places, language, history, and material world connected to Genesis 1.
How should Genesis 1:1 be parsed?
The traditional English rendering treats Genesis 1:1 as an independent opening statement. Some scholars argue the Hebrew syntax can instead be read as a temporal clause (“When God began to create…”). The grammatical question is worth examining without assuming that syntax alone settles larger theological questions.
What does “created” mean in Hebrew?
Genesis 1:1 uses בָּרָא (bārāʾ). Follow the internal Hebrew entry to compare the dictionary form, the form used in this verse, BDB, morphology, and Old Testament occurrences.
Explore the HebrewIs Genesis 1 poetry?
Genesis 1 is highly structured and repetitive, but scholars describe its literary form in different ways. Rather than forcing a single label, examine its repeated formulas, parallel sequences, and prose features.
What is the “firmament”?
The KJV “firmament” translates רָקִיעַ (rāqîaʿ). Explore the Hebrew term, how it is used elsewhere, and the ancient cosmological setting reflected in its earliest contexts.
How does Genesis 1 compare with other ancient creation texts?
Comparative study can clarify shared imagery and distinctive literary choices. Similarity does not by itself establish identity, dependence, or theological meaning.
Sources to ExploreCurated research paths for this chapter 6
History & Daily Life2
- The First CreationBible Odyssey
Directly focused on Genesis 1:1-2:3 as an ordered creation account culminating in Sabbath.
- Understand God's Creation StoryBibleProject
Visual video resource for Genesis 1; useful for visual learners. Use as an accessible learning source, paired with scholarly sources.
Maps & Timeline1
- Map of the Fertile CrescentWorld History Encyclopedia
Actual map resource showing the ancient Near Eastern setting where early agriculture, settlement, and civilization developed.
Language & Literature2
- Gender Equality at CreationTheTorah.com
Explores Genesis 1:27 and the Hebrew idea of humanity created in the image of God; strong language and interpretation resource.
- Strong’s H7225 — BeginningBible Hub
Lexical reference for “beginning” in Genesis 1:1.
Artifacts & Manuscripts1
- Enuma Elish Creation TabletBritish Museum
Clay tablet fragment from Enuma Elish, the Babylonian creation epic; useful for ancient Near Eastern creation comparison.
WORTH A CLOSER LOOK
A surviving Enūma Eliš tablet fragment
A Neo-Assyrian fragment of Enūma Eliš from Nineveh preserves part of the Babylonian creation tradition. Seeing the object itself helps place comparative creation literature in its material scribal setting.
View the object
Genesis 1 in the Dead Sea Scrolls
A fragment of 4Q7 from Qumran Cave 4 preserves text from Genesis 1. The manuscript belongs to the Hasmonean period and gives a direct look at the physical transmission of the chapter in the Second Temple period.
Examine the manuscriptRepeated language shapes the chapter
Genesis 1 repeatedly uses formulaic sequences such as divine speech, fulfillment, evaluation, naming, and numbered days. Rather than assigning a meaning to that structure, notice where the formulas repeat and where the pattern changes.
Explore the Hebrew
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